The tours of the world in 80 clicks ,(30-11-11) by Prof. Phileas Frogg

1) Select base metals decline on global cues
2) more oil supplies in the USA = price falls to 99. 14$ in Asia
3) Asian markets down on European struggles
4)U.S. stock futures signal losses, focus on banks
5) U.S. Holiday Sales Will Rise 4.2 Percent
6)Qatar’s inflation rose to 2.5% in Oct

1) Select base metals decline on global cues

Select copper, nickel and aluminium declined in a restricted trade at the non-ferrous metal market here today on stockist selling as well as subdued industrial offtake following bearish London Metal Exchange (LME) trend.

Meanwhile, copper cable scrap and brass sheet cutting edged up on slight demand from consumer industries.

The industrial metal weakened after comments from European Central Bank about worsening eurozone debt crisis making it difficult to find any concrete solution.

2) more oil supplies in the USA = price falls to 99. 14$ in Asia

A tiepin US demand is making the inventories to rose ,( + 3.4 million barrels), and this is affecting the oil price in Asia that falls of 65c.At the same time in London Brent crude was down 11 cents at $110.71 on the ICE futures exchange.

3) Asian markets down on European struggles

Asian markets mostly slipped on Wednesday following two days of gains as eurozone finance chiefs struggled to boost the financial firepower of a bailout fund for the debt-ridden region. While they were unable to increase the European Financial Stability Facility’s war chest to the hoped-for one trillion euros ($1.3 trillion) they did give it new powers and called on help from the International Monetary Fund. Tokyo ended 0.51 percent, or 43.21 points, lower at 8,434.61 and Seoul fell 0.49 percent, or 9.01 points, to 1,847.51.
Hong Kong slipped 1.46 percent, or 266.85 points, to 17,989.35 while Shanghai slumped 3.27 percent, or 78.98 points, to 2,333.41. The mainland Chinese market was weighed by disappointment that leaders had failed to ease monetary policy despite easing inflation and slowing economic growth.
But Sydney rose 0.43 percent, or 17.7 points, to close the day at 4,119.8.
The losses follow a two-day rally that was triggered by hopes European officials would be able to come up with a plan to avert the break-up of the eurozone.
While the talks on Tuesday failed to increase the EFSF from 440 billion euros, ministers did give it new weapons.
They agreed to allow the fund to guarantee 20-30 percent of potential losses incurred by investors who buy bonds of troubled governments. There was also a decision to create co-investment funds to allow public and private investors to participate.

On currency markets the euro was at $1.3298 and 103.72 yen in early European trade, compared with $1.3317 and 103.66 yen in New York late Tuesday. The dollar was at 78.00 yen from 77.90 yen.
Adding to downward pressure on equities was news that Standard & Poor’s had downgraded its ratings on 15 global banks as part of an expected change in how it forms its opinions on financial institutions.
The move changes how S&P factors into ratings the level of government support, removing what it had seen as an assumption that countries would keep the big banks from failing.
New York’s main oil contract, light sweet crude for January delivery, fell 48 cents to $99.31 per barrel in the afternoon.
Brent North Sea crude for January was down 55 cents to $110.27.
Gold was trading at $1,705.75 an ounce at 0950 GMT, from $1,707.90 late Tuesday.

4)U.S. stock futures signal losses, focus on banks

* U.S. stock index futures pointed to a weaker open for equities on Wall Street on Wednesday, with futures for the S&P 500 , for the Dow Jones and for the Nasdaq 100 down 0.4-0.7 percent.

* Standard & Poor’s reduced its credit ratings on 15 big banking companies, mostly in the Europe and the United States, on Tuesday as the result of a sweeping overhaul of its ratings criteria.

* JPMorgan Chase & Co, Bank of America Corp, Citigroup Inc, Wells Fargo & Co, Goldman Sachs Group Inc, Morgan Stanley, Barclays Plc, HSBC Holdings Plc, Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc and UBS AG, were among the banks that had their ratings reduced by one notch each.

* The ADP Employment report for November, due at 1315 GMT, is expected to show its best reading since April and the third consecutive gain greater than 110,000. The Pending Home Sales Index, to be released at 1500 GMT, is seen rising for October.

* Samsung Electronics is set to resume selling its Galaxy tablet computer in Australia as early as Friday, after the South Korean technology firm won a rare legal victory in a long-running global patent war with Apple Inc.

* Boeing could be at a disadvantage to Airbus because the bankruptcy of AMR Corp, the parent of American Airlines, places up to $40 billion of jet orders at the mercy of a U.S. bankruptcy court, lawyers and bankruptcy experts said.

* Newmont Mining Corp said it has suspended construction work at its Conga project in Peru in agreement with the government, for the safety of employees and the community.

* U.S. communications regulators released a staff report criticizing AT&T Inc’s $39 billion plan to purchase T-Mobile USA, even though they agreed on Tuesday to let the companies withdraw their request for approval.

* Goldman Sachs has raised $600 million from clients such as pension funds, wealthy families and large institutions for a new fund that would provide start-up money to hedge-fund managers, the Wall Street Journal said.

* European stocks fell 0.8 percent on Wednesday, snapping a sharp three-session rally, after the Standard & Poor’s downgrade of a number of European and U.S. banks.

* On Tuesday, the Dow and S&P 500 advanced for a second day on Tuesday as stronger-than-expected consumer confidence data and hopes for further progress on a solution to Europe’s fiscal mess bolstered sentiment.

* Euro zone ministers agreed to ramp up the firepower of their rescue fund, but couldn’t say by how much, and may turn to the IMF for more help as a jump in Italy’s borrowing costs pushed the region closer to financial disaster.

* The Dow Jones industrial average closed up 32.62 points, or 0.28 percent, at 11,555.63. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index ended up 2.64 points, or 0.22 percent, at 1,195.19. The Nasdaq composite index closed down 11.83 points, or 0.47 percent, at 2,515.51.

5) U.S. Holiday Sales Will Rise 4.2 Percent

Reports from the Conference Board, a U.S.-based organization that provides insights into consumer confidence and leading economic indicators, seemed to promise a remarkable reasonable holiday season, particularly given the scale and intensity of crises across the Eurozone and its impact on Asian markets.The Conference Board placed consumer confidence in the U.S. at a four-month high of 56.0, from a low of 40.9 in July. Most startlingly, however, the Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) soared to its largest month-over-month percentage gain since April, 2009 and its largest single points gain since April, 2003.

6)Qatar’s inflation rose to 2.5% in Oct

Annual consumer price inflation in Qatar rose to 2.5 percent in October, boosted by price rises in all major categories except rents, the government said on Tuesday.

It was the highest inflation rate since at least the start of 2010, when the Statistics Authority began publishing year-on-year data every month. In September this year, annual inflation was 2.2 percent.

Consumer prices rose 0.4 percent from a month earlier in October, accelerating from 0.1 percent in September. Prices in the transport and communications sector rose fastest from a year earlier in October, climbing 8.3 percent partly because of an increase in air fares, the authority said.